Near Providence, RI – November 19, 1910

April 10, 2015

Near Providence, RI – November 19, 1910

On November 19, 1910, the balloon Cleveland, took off from North Adams, Massachusetts, with five men aboard. The craft was piloted by Leo Stevens, and carrying four Williams College students as passengers.

Strong winds on the ground delayed the ascension for nearly an hour, but when it finally took to the sky the balloon “shot up like a rocket” before being carried away in an easterly direction. Three hours and thirty-five minutes later the balloon was over Rhode Island approaching Providence when it began to lose altitude. Ballast was dropped, but the balloon continued to fall, and appeared to heading for a large lake. The aeronauts were forced to strip off their clothing to lighten the weight in order to avoid a water landing. The tactic worked, and the balloon sailed across the lake before crashing onto the far shore.

Upon impact, one of the occupants, H.P. Scharman was pitched out and received serious injuries. Thus relieved of significant weight, the balloon suddenly rose upwards leaving Scharman behind. It then continued onward several hundred feet, propelled forward by heavy winds, before it slammed into a stone wall. The crash sent the others tumbling out causing relatively minor injuries.

Source: New York Times, “Balloon Up In Gale, Spills Aviators”, November 20, 1910